A New Generation Of Fans Is Knitting Sports And Crafts Together With Handmade Jerseys

Interest in crafts — and fiber arts in particular — has exploded in recent years, as has the market for women's sports. Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photos courtesy of Rysa Ruth, Kailyn Clark and Mackensi Deninno

NEW YORK — On a chilly Sunday in December, about two dozen people filled a few tables at Wilka's, a women's sports bar in lower Manhattan.

Women's college basketball and PWHL games filled the screens, but most early afternoon patrons weren't there to watch a specific matchup. They were there to knit.

They wore handmade sweaters and brought projects in progress — fingerless gloves, hooded scarves — along with bags full of warm wool. Sitting in the middle of it all was Rysa Ruth, on hour 40 of her 76-hour project, knitting a UConn Azzi Fudd jersey,

Ruth, 30, has a degree in fashion textile design from NC State, and works in the fashion industry designing licensed intimate apparel. In her downtime, she knits women's sports jerseys. In the past year, the apparel she has made includes a New York Liberty Natasha Cloud jersey and an Orlando Pride Marta jersey.

In June, Ruth began posting videos on Instagram of her working on the Cloud jersey, and people started DM'ing her asking for the pattern, which Ruth had created. She began selling her jersey patterns online, listing them for $12. She expected to sell five copies, maybe 20.

Ruth taught herself to knit in 2019 when she moved to New York after college and didn't have space in her apartment for a sewing machine. She honed her craft when she got furloughed during the pandemic.

Then, in 2024, NC State's men's and women's basketball teams each made the Final Four in the same season for the first time in school history. Ruth got hooked on women's basketball, and in 2025, she bought season tickets to the Liberty.